The article, Ocean Conservancy Activates Global Volunteer Network for 24th Annual International Coastal Cleanup: Goal is Ending Marine Debris, talks about how trash is one of the most widespread pollution problem threatening our ocean and waterways and it’s entirely preventable. Each year the Ocean Conservancy sets up a date where people go volunteer around the world to clean up their local beaches, lakes, rivers and water ways. This event last occurred on September 19, 2009. People who decide to participate in this event spend just a few hours out of their day removing trash and debris from the coastlines, while tallying and recording every single piece of trash collected. After everyone is done participating they turn in their information to Ocean Conservancy, who then produces the world’s only annual country-by-country, state-by-state index of the problem of marine debris. The public and government officials can look up this information and then collaborate trying to find answers to the problem or marine debris. Vikki Spruill whom is President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy stated, “Trash littering our beaches and choking our ecosystems is a threat to wildlife, our coastal economies, and ultimately to the ability of the ocean to sustain us.” This is very true because we are the ones littering and killing harmless animals. If you’ve ever been to the beach on a hot day, you bring food and drinks with you. There are plenty of trashcans located on the sand, but people choose to berry their trash and just leave it. Most of the people that litter are tourists or people that live inland. Locals know about this problem and we don’t like seeing our beach filled with trash. We are the ones that walk the extra thirty feet to put our trash in the trashcan, not the tourists. The Ocean Conservancy sets up a date, and then announces the date to the public, via social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and volunteer sites. The dates appear in the local newspapers, and even schools offer extra credit and community service for participating in this event. The event is picked up by different sponsors such as Coca-Cola who has been supporting the International Costal Cleanup since 1995, and has been the lead sponsor since 2005, raising awareness of the issue of marine debris and how we all share a responsibility of solving the problem. There are many more problems in the ocean, but this is one of the biggest. In this Inquiry, I plan on focusing on the marine debris problem, fishing, pollution and surfing. There is more ocean than land on our planet and we need to come up with multiple plans to help stop all of the problems!
Drew McGann
The article, Ocean Conservancy Activates Global Volunteer Network for 24th Annual International Coastal Cleanup: Goal is Ending Marine Debris, talks about how trash is one of the most widespread pollution problem threatening our ocean and waterways and it’s entirely preventable. Each year the Ocean Conservancy sets up a date where people go volunteer around the world to clean up their local beaches, lakes, rivers and water ways. This event last occurred on September 19, 2009. People who decide to participate in this event spend just a few hours out of their day removing trash and debris from the coastlines, while tallying and recording every single piece of trash collected. After everyone is done participating they turn in their information to Ocean Conservancy, who then produces the world’s only annual country-by-country, state-by-state index of the problem of marine debris. The public and government officials can look up this information and then collaborate trying to find answers to the problem or marine debris. Vikki Spruill whom is President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy stated, “Trash littering our beaches and choking our ecosystems is a threat to wildlife, our coastal economies, and ultimately to the ability of the ocean to sustain us.” This is very true because we are the ones littering and killing harmless animals. If you’ve ever been to the beach on a hot day, you bring food and drinks with you. There are plenty of trashcans located on the sand, but people choose to berry their trash and just leave it. Most of the people that litter are tourists or people that live inland. Locals know about this problem and we don’t like seeing our beach filled with trash. We are the ones that walk the extra thirty feet to put our trash in the trashcan, not the tourists. The Ocean Conservancy sets up a date, and then announces the date to the public, via social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and volunteer sites. The dates appear in the local newspapers, and even schools offer extra credit and community service for participating in this event. The event is picked up by different sponsors such as Coca-Cola who has been supporting the International Costal Cleanup since 1995, and has been the lead sponsor since 2005, raising awareness of the issue of marine debris and how we all share a responsibility of solving the problem. There are many more problems in the ocean, but this is one of the biggest. In this Inquiry, I plan on focusing on the marine debris problem, fishing, pollution and surfing. There is more ocean than land on our planet and we need to come up with multiple plans to help stop all of the problems!